The Other Side Of The Mirror
by Anaphasis
Summary: What is it like to be a hicaste in Cascadia? It must be the paradise of perfection. Alicia, the daughter of a rich family was born to marry the son of Gabriel Kruger, but what if the small bird wants more freedom? Will she stay or will she leave? Critique is welcome. Characters: Icarus and two OC's. Rated M for later.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - A normal day:  
**  
Run, run, run I'm soon there.. I kept repeating this in my head as I ran towards the train that was about to leave, but I managed to jump in between the closing doors. I leaned against the door while catching my breath and stared at the passing scenery, the high buildings, the droids flying by, some birds. Ksecs were fewer than usual, I assume it's somewhat linked to the runner they caught.. Something phoenix..  
"If you know a friend or even a family member who is a runner, please contact the kruger secs immediately!" The woman on the radio said, as always, before the music continued.  
Every day is the same, everything is an always in Cascadia.  
I got off the stop with some other student who also go to my school but I didn't make friends much since most of the girls I befriended were always jealous of how I always looked so "perfect" and boys usually just wanted to play with me. I go to this school because of my mother and father. My parents are huge fans of Gabriel Kruger and ever since I was small they have been telling me that I should do everything in my power to marry the son of Gabriel, Ethan, who is around my age so naturally they made me go to the same school as him.  
I sighed while being occupied with my thoughts and walked into the school, a small droid flying by my head and scanning my gridprint.

"Welcome to school Miss Alicia." The droid told me and went to the next student.  
I made my way to the classroom, watching the people passing by. I was quite surprised how some were dressed in mini skirts and makeup, which I believe is something disliked by the Krugers since Gabriel is dressed in classy, dark outfits and his family is usually seen dressed in more elegant outfits. I got too deep into my thoughts and spaced out, walking into a pole and earning some snickers behind me which just made me hurry up to my classroom.  
I sat down by the wall so I can lean against it, watching the clock.

8 minutes before the lesson starts. Perfect.  
Pulling out my music player I put on my headset, getting ready to listen to music while staring out through the window on the other side of the classroom. I shuffled through my playlist, unable to find my favorite songs.  
I slumped down lower on my chair while looking through my playlist. I'm fairly certain my parents only gave birth to me to have a kid to marry into the Kruger family..  
They really just see me as a pretty toy to get closer to the them..  
3 minutes left.

I remember when I met Ethan Kruger for the first time. He was, well still is, two years above me in school and I was new at the school and got lost and he helped me find my classroom. He seems to be kind to people around him, not sure if it's an act though. I heard the door open so I put my headphones down.

"You are early as usually Alicia." Miss Samantha said smiling, as she walked to her cathedral. She is our teacher in basically every subject. She started sorting things on the screen behind her table. I smiled a little.

"Good morning." I greeted her and nodded.  
Just as she turned back to continue programming the screen the rest of the class started to swarm the classroom, so I sat closer to the wall to avoid being looked.  
"Sit down please!" Miss Samantha ordered them and she began her class straight away, exactly at 8 o'clock. "Today we will learn about our city's history..."

.  
.

I always wanted this city to have more trees and possibly parks, it's almost like we are robots...Then again we might as well be robots, controlled by the Krugers.. Damn.. I'm starting to develop this hate towards them, probably because my parents drool over them..  
I walked by the train stop, deciding to go home by foot. I looked up at the sky as a huge airplane's shadow caught my attention.

"I wish I could fly too.." I whispered and reached towards the sky. "I want to be free maybe just for one day." I sighed and kicked a small pebble.  
"Interesting thoughts from a hicaste.."  
I spun around my heel, noticing the 2 drunk guys walking towards me, tossing a bottle on the ground. I instantly understood that they meant nothing good. Damn, I should have taken the train..

"Hey, if you come with us we can give you some freedom that you wish for" One of them said while hiccuping and nearly tripping on a small edge.  
I decided the ignore them, turning away and walking as fast as I could but they decided to run after me and running in heels wasn't an option for me so I turned around to kick one of them away the way my dad taught me. The one I managed to kick stumbled backwards while the other one snorted and reached to grab my arm.

I wish I paid more attention to father when he was teaching me self defense. I jerked my arm away from his reach, nearly losing my balance.  
"Come ooon.." He whined, taking a sip from a wine bottle. "Don't play hard to get, we just want to play."

I gulped, an unpleasant feeling building up inside as I started to give up on getting away. I opened my mouth to scream as my last hope but the two drunkards yelled before me as they both got knocked to the ground.

"Bastards.." I looked towards the guy who rescued me, he had a rather scary expression. He was muscular and tall so knocking both the drunkards to the ground was easy for him, not to mention they barely stood on their feet.  
"You alright, Alicia?" He asked and I nodded a little as he walked up to me. "They didn't hurt you, right?"  
"N..no" I replied quietly, still a little shocked.

"Good.. Let's go before they get up." He told me, dragging me away as I stumbled after him. I honestly never felt clumsier. "I will take you home. You live by the ocean pier, right?"  
"Y..yes?" I asked, quite surprised. "How do you know?" It was then I realized we are wearing the same uniform. "You go to my school?"

He snorted and slowed his pace so we were walking next to each other, still holding my hand though. "Do you pay this little attention to people around you? I'm a friend of Ethan. I see you sometimes since he always greets you when he sees you." He looked at me.

"You are pretty rude compared to your look.." He commented, making me look away a little hurt.  
"I'm just not used to people.. You don't know what it's like to grow up being picked on by everyone.."

He raised an eyebrow. "So you just have problem talking with people."  
"That's kind of right.." I mumbled, not wanting to go into details as to what I meant by getting picked on. I don't know why I even mentioned it. Guess I got shocked from the two drunkards.  
He nodded as a way to show he understands. "I still think you are rude but you have somewhat a reason.." He said.I couldn't help but giggle.  
"Yeah yeah funny.." He said but he did smile slightly.

I kept smiling as I looked up at the seagulls flying by. There are tons of them close to where I live. "You said you are a friend of Ethan, right?" I asked, breaking the silence.  
"Yea.. Then again I can't blame you for not noticing me because Ethan doesn't let us talk to you. He treats you as some kind of property.." He said, a little disgusted.  
"I think he is just protecting me since he once introduced me to his friends from another school and they wouldn't stop hitting on me.. They even found out my number so I had to change it." I mumbled, not used to talking so much with someone.

"Annoying kids.." He muttered under his breath. "If you want.."  
My phone vibrating in my pocket cut him off. I pulled it out and quickly answered the call when I realized it was mom.  
"Where are you? We have to go to dinner soon! We can't make Mr. Kruger wait and you know that! Come home this instant young lady!" She yelled and cut the call before I could reply.  
Sighing, I rolled my eyes then stopped walking as we reached the entrance of the ocean pier apartments. "What were you going to say?"  
He shrugged. "Nevermind that. See you tomorrow and take care."  
"Okay.." I nodded slowly and watched him turn away. "Um.."  
"Yes?" He turned back.  
"What's your name..?" I asked sheepishly, staring at the ground.  
He smirked. "Why do you want to know?"  
"So I can greet you tomorrow.." I replied, kicking some pebbles with my shoe, peeking up at him.  
His smile softened a little but was still cocky. "Icarus." I nodded and averted my eyes from his face.

"What I was going to say earlier.." He started so I looked up at him again. "From now I can walk you home."

"I don't want you to get home late because of me being defenseless at times." I told him honestly.  
He then smirked and leaned closer to me. "Miss hicaste thinks I'm a midcaste?"  
"I.. I didn't mean that!" I shook my head in panic.  
He laughed. "I live in the ocean pier too." He told me and pointed towards another apartment entrance.  
"Oooh." I gasped in surprise then blushed as I heard him laugh at my reaction.  
"You are pretty cute when you don't pay attention to being polite and quiet." He told me then smiled at me. "See you tomorrow, Alicia."  
"See you." I told him. "Icarus."  
He smiled again and waved goodbye while leaving as I walked to the entrance, letting the camera scan me, then entered the elevator, watching my reflection while waiting. I still had a slight blush covering my cheeks. He called me cute.. But not in a bad or perverted way. He sounded like he meant it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - not a dinner:**

"Alicia White! You have 20 minutes to change into a perfect dress and if we are late because of yo-"  
"We won't be late, mother." I reassured her as I closed the door behind me then hurried up the stairs, opening the door to my room.  
Being a hicaste comes with a huge apartment. Our happens to be at the ocean pier, with our balcony, surprisingly, facing towards the Kruger family's private apartment.  
I opened the huge garderobe that was facing my bed. If someone accused me of being spoiled it would be hard to deny. I have a huge bed with tons of pillows and a garderobe the size of a locaste's bedroom, not to mention my parents built a bathroom connected to my bedroom. My room is literally filled with expensive stuff. A table made out of birch tree, the chair is covered with the softest material and my bed is so soft that one can sink into it.  
I pressed the screen on the wall by the garderobe door, typing in the words "dress, dinner" and in less than a minute several dresses filled the garderobe. It was designed so that I could easily search for the perfect outfit by only pressing a button and the electronic machine would give out a few outfits that fitted the key words. Basically a pipe with the clothes hanging on it would come out from the walls.  
I spent a few minutes looking through the dresses, trying to pick one that would fit both my liking and my mother's, which is not so hard since I like most of the my clothes so I just had to pick something white or pink. I typed in the key words "white, pink" so only the dresses fitting would stay.  
"Alicia! You have ten minutes!" Mom yelled from downstairs so I quickly picked a pink dress with white ribbons hugging my waist. I looked at my hair in the mirror which was still the same way as this morning. Short, blonde with huge curls. My hair is actually longer than it looks but I always do my curls in MM* style so it looks a little shorter.  
I applied some lipstick and mascara to "steal the spotlight" as my mother likes to say.  
"Beautiful!" Dad said as he entered my room, without knocking as always. "My beautiful daughter is going to steal everyone's heart!"  
"Thank you father." I replied and smiled a little at him.  
"We are leaving in a few minutes so you can have some more time to finish." He said, implying that I can have some alone time. He knows how mom can be at times like this.  
I sighed as he left and walked to my balcony, leaning over the glass fence and watching the boats cut the waves. "I should have asked which floor he lives on.." I mumbled to myself while moving my gaze towards the building which Icarus entered. It was two blocks away from mine.  
"Alicia! We are leaving." Dad said, peeking into my room. He was not a fan of yelling unlike mom.  
"Yes, coming." I said, glancing towards the apartment one last time but sadly he wasn't anywhere in my sight. I can't wait to see him again tomorrow.  
The car ride to the meetup was pretty boring and short since we were going to eat at a restaurant at regatta bay. According to dad there are famous directors, photographers and others invited because Kruger needs to make a small movie about something called reflection so he invited the best to talk with and decide who to work with. We are invited because Gabriel wished for me and Ethan to meet with a man called Marc Miller.  
We parked the car in front of the huge building which was both a restaurant and a hotel. Two women, I assume waitresses, were waiting for us by the entrance and escorted us to the dinner, which was more like a party since nobody was really sitting with a table but walked around, eating small sandwiches the size of a coin and drinking cocktails.  
"Alicia!"  
I turned around and Ethan hugged me. "I'm so happy you could come!" He smiled happily.  
"Welcome Alicia, Victor, Felicia! I'm delighted to see you!" Gabriel Kruger appeared, offering two glasses of champagne." My parents could barely contain their happiness as they walked away with him, leaving me with Ethan who put his arm around my shoulder like he always does with his friends.  
"So this fellow, Marc.. Something.. Is a photographer, a pro at that, and he is here to see us both." He started while leading me towards a smiling man who was in his late 30's.  
"And why is that..?" I asked, hoping he isn't going to say what I'm thinking.  
Ethan flashed his best smile at me. "He wants us to be his models in his next collection. He said the collection is called 'young love'." He said and let go off my shoulder as we reached the man.  
"Nice to meet you Alicia. I'm looking forward to working with you and Ethan!" He said and smiled in the sweetest way possible so I couldn't decline his offer.  
He pulled out a huge catalog and showed us some of the clothes they designed for the collection. My favorite was a cute dress with scarlet coloured skirt, white shirt and a cute scarlet bow on the collar and one bigger bow on the skirt in the same dark colour.  
We kept looking at clothes until Gabriel cleared his throat at the stage to drag our attentions. "I'm more than delighted that so many of you could make it today and I'm glad to introduce the director of my new movie. His name is Nathaniel and he will be working with his crew to help me make this movie perfect. Please continue and enjoy yourselves." He finished by bowing his head and walking away with Isabel right behind him.  
I turned back towards Marc and Ethan.  
"So when is the shooting?" Ethan asked in excitement.  
Marc smiled at us. "I would like to be finished by next weekend so we can start on Monday. I will be wait for you at the Beauty office around 3 pm."  
Ethan nodded smiling and reached to shake his hand. As I watched him reach out to bid goodbye I slowly realized that the young playful boy I grew up with became a mature man.  
I smiled and shook Marc's hand too as he left to talk with his coworkers I assume, or maybe just friends.  
"You were really beautiful tonight." Ethan suddenly said, making me blink at him in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, you always are, but tonight you looked more grown up."  
I giggled and walked towards the chocolate fountain. "It's funny because I was just thinking about that."  
"About how you look more grown up?" He laughed and took one strawberry from the plate, placing it under the fountain to cover it with chocolate. The strawberries were all put on sticks so one could cover the fruit with chocolate but not their fingers.  
"No, about how you look more mature." I said, avoiding to say 'like your father' since he disliked it when people compared the two of them.  
He smiled at me and placed the strawberry to my lips. "Thank you." He said and waited for me to take a bite from the sweet fruit. He then took two more strawberries and walked to a window, leaning against the window sill. "I always wanted to ask.. Why do you refuse to go to school with me? Isn't it troublesome taking the train everyday? Or walk as I heard from some birds." He said, probably meaning my mom. I couldn't ignore the hint of anger in his eyes.

"I prefer not to be picked on.. Being given looks from others is already enough." I told him while standing in front of him. My mom would faint if she saw me sit or even lean against the window sill because it's not lady like.  
He nodded then reached to stroke hair away from my face. "If they pick on you you can just tell me." He told me and smiled reassuringly.  
"Yeah yeah I know. But if you got involved it would get worse." I said, staring at my shoes then looking up at him again, noticing his expression change from smiling to a little irritated.  
"I have power over all of them so they might as well become outcaste.." He said quietly, eating one of the strawberries. "Do you want the other one?" He grinned again.  
I looked away a little embarrassed. Those strawberries were really tasty but I didn't want to sound greedy.  
Ethan laughed and held me by my chin, making me turn towards him. "You know, you don't have to put up the polite act with me."  
"C..can I have it?" I asked sheepishly and he gave me the fruit smiling.  
"You know.. I feel quite special around you. You don't always put on your polite side that your parents hammered into you but you let your cute side take over sometimes." He told me while averting his eyes away, looking at someone behind me but he squeezed my hand when I was about to turn around. "Don't.. You should only look at me."  
I nodded a little, knowing that Ethan can be scary when he is angry. Not in a way where he would hurt me.. No, he has never gotten angry with me or even if he was he never treated me (or his family) the way he treats others.  
"Alicia!" Mom called out as she walked up to me, beaming with happiness as Ethan flashed his half smile at her, making her melt like ice cream in the sun. "You two are so perfect together!"  
Ethan smiled at her. "Thank you. I guess we were made.. I mean, meant for each other." He said and I looked away to bite my lip so I wouldn't laugh. Ethan is more than aware of my parents making me for the sole purpose of getting close to Gabriel.  
Mom smiled and stroked my hair. "We should leave dear, it's soon 10 and you need your beauty sleep and you have school tomorrow!" She said and walked away, leaving me with a laughing Ethan.  
"Hilarious." I rolled my eyes then grinned at him. "Guess I have to go, see you tomorrow."  
He nodded and pulled me into a hug. "Take care."  
"You too, bye." I smiled and waved towards him while hurrying my way towards mom and dad who were bidding farewell to Gabriel and some friends of their.  
"Bye Alicia, see you soon." Gabriel smiled at me, causing a cold shiver to rundown my spine. I didn't like that smile at all for some reason. It's like he is planning something..  
"I hope so. Good bye." I bowed a little and left as my parents walked in front of me. They were chirping about some uninteresting topics while getting into the car. Ethan is right, they really are like birds. I grinned to myself as I climbed into the car, taking my seat and soon dozing off as we left the hotel.  
Mom woke me up as we got home and I somehow managed to wait for the elevator to reach our floor without falling asleep and I sure as hell wanted to just drop on my bed and sleep but mom would faint if I slept in dirty clothes so I had to force myself to change into my pajamas before curling up on my bed to fall asleep. I couldn't fall asleep straight away because changing clothes somewhat woke me up but staring at the sky through the balcony door I started to doze off again. As I closed my eyes I remembered Icarus for a brief moment. I can't wait to see him tomorrow..


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 -prepare for trouble**

I always loved my school uniform. It was a knee long grey dress with a dark blue cardigan over it with the school logo sewed on it. The logo was a simple R referring to the school's name: Royals. It was one of the best school in Cascadia, partly because anyone from and above midcaste could attend to it so it was a popular choice.  
I fixed the small bow I put on my hair after finishing combing it. Only the end of my hair was curly still, the rest was only wavy after sleeping.  
I yawned and looked at the clock. It was 06.10. To train goes at 07.20 so I have a little more than an hour to eat and do other stuff. I packed my pencil case and notebook into my bag alongside the books I will be needing today then left the bag by the door.  
I like Fridays because my parents usually sleep late so I can be alone in the morning, at least if I stay quiet. I made my way into the kitchen which was mostly made of black shelves and one big fridge, oven and a dishwasher. I opened the fridge to take out some milk for my cereal. Mom hates that I eat cereal so much because she thinks it has poison in it.  
I sat down by the dining table and stared out through the window while eating my breakfast. I'm happy mom and dad aren't awake today because I keep some cat food cans hidden in my room, since I feed the stray cats and dogs by the foot of the apartments every morning, because there are tons of them starving here and it's hard to sneak out cans when they are awake. I also bring a bottle of water with me every time.  
I finished eating and stood up, leaving my plate by the dishwasher then hurried up the stairs to my room, checking if mom or dad was around then reached under my bed, pulling out three food cans and then quickly, and quietly, ran back down the stairs. I usually put them in my bag before taking it down but my bag was full today so I had to put them into a plastic bag.  
While placing the plastic bag next to my school bag I removed my jacket from the hanger, putting it on since mom came into my room yesterday night only to wake me up and tell me that it will be cold today.  
I easily slid my phone into my cardigan's pocket and walked to the elevator with my bag over my shoulder and the plastic bag in my hands. I hummed a song as the door opened and I entered it, pressing the 0 button, unintentionally thinking about Icarus. Maybe he is leaving right now too..  
Tapping my right foot on the floor, slightly inpatient, i reached the bottom floor. Our home was on the 9th-10th floor so it was a good 7 mins to reach the bottom floor. I peeked out to see if anyone, or a certain someone, was anywhere near but to my disappointment I was alone.  
I pouted a little then made my way to the small hallway that went between the two main buildings. It was shady and pretty dark since it was around 6.50. I kneeled down and called for the cats. Most of them are already familiar with me but the kittens are still shy. I grinned as I saw a bigger shadow moved and ran up to me. "Morning to you too Winter." I pat the dirty white dog then pulled out the food cans, dividing them into six bowls. Then poured some water into another two bowls.  
I stood up, stroking the dirt off of my knees. I smiled a little as I watched the cats, and Winter, eat happily. Most hicaste are too selfish to care about these stray animals. They do have pets but once they get tired of them they throw them away.  
I checked my clock, realizing it's 7.09 already and grabbed my bag, started running towards the train-stop that was right around the corner. I was wearing flat shoes today so I could actually run, not just jog.  
Reaching the platform I slowed my steps and fixed my uniform so it didn't have any wrinkles.  
"Good morning Alicia." A male called out to me, making me look up and squint a little since he was right in front of the waking sun. He moved closer to me so I opened my eyes a little wider. The first time we met I didn't really have the chance to take a good look at him. He had shorter hair than Ethan but it was a light shade of brown. He had divine lines, his cheekbones were extremely clear and he looked a little older than 19. No wonder he and Ethan are friends. Like two handsome Gods next to each other. "Did the cats bite your tongue?" He grinned, in a similar cocky way as Ethan.  
I frowned and looked around. "What do you mean..?"  
He leaned against a column, the smirk never leaving his face. "Saw you feeding the stray cats this morning." He told me, keeping his voice low as people started to gather around us.  
I bit the inside of my mouth, frustrated that I didn't notice him. "Will you tell my parents..?"  
He frowned at me, the smirk disappearing. "What do you take me for?"  
"A person I barely know.." I replied, trying to look powerful but he was bigger and taller than me so it didn't work out well.  
He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a black phone. I peeked at it to see that it was 7.19. "Want to exchange numbers, Alicia?" He asked.  
I narrowed my eyes but if he had bad intentions Ethan wouldn't be friends with him so I pulled out my phone which was white, giving it to him so he can type his number in it and save it. While typing the train arrived so we both got on, sitting down close to the door. This train is rarely full since hicaste usually take their cars or private limousines.  
Icarus grinned happily, no sign of cockiness showing on his face. "I sent myself a message to save your number too." He handed me back my phone, which I took, feeling his warm hand touch mine lightly, making me pull away faster than intended.  
We stayed quiet for the rest of the ride. He was chatting on his phone and I was staring out through the window that was at the ceiling. The train was extremely fast so it getting to school was fast but sadly I couldn't see the clouds and birds clearly because of the speed.  
"Hey, we are here." Icarus nudged my side, making me jump a little in surprise which earned a smirk. "You space out a lot princess." He commented and reached out to help me up from my seat. I hesitated but took his hand, not wanting to hurt his feelings. He let go off my hand as we got off the train but we walked side by side to school, making some people stare at us but the stare that gave me shivers was the one from Ethan. It wasn't hard to notice him. He was standing by the school gate, narrowing his eyes at us but he had his sweet smile plastered on his face so unless he was directly staring at someone they wouldn't notice the anger within him. Unluckily for me, or us, he was directly looking at me and Icarus.  
"How.. Kind of you to walk her to school, Icarus." Ethan said, giving his trade half smile. "For what can I receive such kindness from my best friend?" He asked, emphasizing the words 'best friend'.  
I sighed a little, knowing that Ethan wasn't angry at me but Icarus. "We just happened to meet at the trainstation you don't have to worry." I explained to Ethan and his gaze softened as he looked at me.  
Icarus shrugged and tossed his bag over his shoulder. There was an obvious tension building up and people started to stare so I decided to leave, rushing into the building, leaving a shocked Ethan and Icarus behind.  
"Did you see that? She has Ethan babysitting her all the time and now she wants the other prince too?" Some girls whispered in the corridor, making me wish that I could disappear.  
I pretty much sneaked into the classroom, thankful that I don't share classes with the two 'princes' as the girls refer to them. I slumped down on my usual spot. I'm so stupid.. I shouldn't have walked next to Icarus.. It was obviously going to cause rumors. I should have known that he is popular if he is friends with Ethan.  
Another sigh escaped my mouth when someone slammed the door open, making me jump a little. Luckily it was not any of the crazy fangirls or one of the princes but Miss Samantha who gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back but as soon as the other students started to swarm the classroom I couldn't avoid the hateful stares.  
What have I gotten myself into..


End file.
